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Manawatu Times, Volume II, Issue 30, 31 January 1877, Page 2

" Fair Play's " letter, not being authenticated by his real name and address, is inadmissible. We have heard that Mr "Waite, the master of the Government school here, is a passenger by the s.s. Albion, which left Port Chalmers on Sunday last. The total receipts on the Christchurch railway for the months of November and December last were as follows : — November, £19,454 18s 8 ; December, £17,766 5s 4d. By telegram from Christchurch we learn that the Wesleyan Conference there has made the following appointments, affecting this district : — Rev. Mr Hammond to the pastorate of the Wesleyan Church, Palmerston North ; Eev. Mr. Cannell to Sandon ; Rev. Mr Simmonds to Napier. In the " Gazette " of the 23rd instant enquiry is made for Richard Craig, formerly colour-sergeant m the 57th Regiment, stationed at Wanganui. After pui'chasing his discharge he was employed as a clerk m the Commissariat, and is supposed to have afterwards joined the Forest Rangers. There are loud complaints of the damage done to the corn crops by the late gales. The Rangitikei "Advocate" has heard of one field of oats, of about 40 acres, so completely destroyed that the owner, thinking the first loss, the best, has determined to burn it, scarcely a grain being left on the stalks. This will prove a serious loss, as it was a magnificent crop, expected to yield 40 bushels, at the least, to the acre. In other places we hear of the wheat being so laid that it will have to be hand-reaped. Various settlers have estimated their losses, occasioned by the gale, at from £100 to £200. Woodgate was executed at Picton on Wednesday morning last, and the sentence of the law is also to be carried out on Martin Curtin at Auckland. Some six weeks ago a carpenter named Daniel Peddie left Port Underwood for Blenheim and had not since been heard of up to the 20th instant. He is an old resident of -Blenheim. The Wellington " Argus " attributes the fatal accidents at the late regatta to the practice of making the sheets fast, which often causes a boat to upset m one of those sudden gusts to which Wellington habour is liable. A telegram from Alexandra states that Te Wheoro, Mete Tawhiaro, Manuhiri, and Kopua Te Ngakau acted under orders from Tawhiao m stopping the Pirongia survey, and m warning the Taupo road party. Dr. Pollen is m the neighbourhood conferring with Manuhiri. The present terminus of the PictonBlenheim railway is a mile from the latter town, and the extension to the town is, it seems, now about to be proceeded with, according to the " Express," at a gradient 7 to 9 feet lower than the banks of the Opawa. All who know Blenheim will understand what this means, and m ease they should be" passengers on the line m rainy weather, will take care to provide themselves with life-buoys for use on the last mile of their journey to Blenheim. The " Taranaki Budget " of a recent date relates the following curious accident : — As Mrs Morris was riding from Omata yesterday to her own home, the horse turned to a stream as if about to take a drink of water. Instead of doing so, the animal lay down and rolled on the ground. Mrs Morris was considerably hurt, and had to be conveyed home m a trap. No bones were broken. The Wanganui " Herald " says : — A few days ago a settler riding over his run on No. 3 Line came apross a hawk's nest, situated m a small swamp. It contained two fullgrown young hawks, one of which he succeeded m capturing, but the other escaped. On examining the nest he found therein the remains of 11 pheasants, 5 rats, 3 quail, and 1 woodhen. The " Chronicle " says : — When ~ the colony was being ransacked for a hangman to despatch Woodgate, two worthies, residents of Wanganui, proffered their services and inquired the probable rate of remuneration for the services required to be rendered. We were not before aware that we possessed talent of such a high order m our community. The Davenport Brothers will shortly visit New Zealand, their agent having arrived at Dunedin. Mr Ingster, of Ketemarae, has on his farm a strawbeny cow, which, within 41 weeks, has given birth to four calves. They are all living, and are fine healthy animals. The parliament of New South Wales has appropriated for the present year no less than £250,000 for educational purposes.

This is the way the " Marlborough Express " comments on the proceedings of the Kaikoura County Council : — " Kaikoura is a pleasant place, situate on the sea shore, and principally noted for sheep-shearers and rabbits. There is a County Council at Kaikoura, and the newly-fledged councillors are, to use a vulgar expression, 'like dogs with two tails.' At the first meeting of this august body it was resolved that the rules and orders of the defunct Provincial Council should be utilised as a basis of procedure m the future, and we should not be surprised to learn that the Chairman is to visit Wellington shortly to interview Major Campbell on the subject, of the ' Privileges of Parliament,' which- will also be adopted by the Eoad Board working out its own destiny at the metropolis of rabbits. We have given the matter deep consideration, and write these few lines deeply impressed' with the awful consequences which, may re-* suit on our being called upon to appear before this infant legislature for a breach of Privilege." The Directors of the New Zealand and Australian Land Company have now determined to cut up several of their fine stations into suitable sized farms, which will be let somewhat after the Home principle. The Company's representatives here are now maturing the scheme, and will shortly advertise the farms. The " Budget" says :— Some considerable time ago the son of . an ironmaster from near Glasgow paid a visit to Taranaki . He took home some of the ironsand, and from .the manner m which he circulated information regarding it must have taken an interest m the ironsand question. A passenger .from the steamer took a run ashore yesterday, and had a look at the Titanic Company's furnace. His attention liad been first attracted to New Zealand partly from the-ac-count given of Taranaki and the ironsand by the son of the ironmaster, at whose works, the said passenger had worked from boyhood, and partly from seeing m a Colonial paper that there was every prospect of the ironsand being successfully smelted. He determined to settle m New Zealand, with the view of being early on the spot m case of the iron industry being started. . Forty or fifty persons, workers m every branch of the iron trade m the same district, put themselves m communication with the Agent-General m England, intending, if he reported favourably,. tp come out m a body to Taranaki, to be ready for employme nt on' new works being started. A great many claims have been pegged off on the new rush, says the "Kumara Times," which is situated about a mile from town, and is supposed to ibe a divergence of the Shamrock lead. : / IK was prospected by an individual who rejoices m the sobriquet of " Bill, the Butcher," and who has been working on his claim for about two months. Finding the ground was payable, he informed some of his old mates of the nature of the ground, which is only seven feet sinking, with about 6ft of washdirt. The prospect run about Bdwts to the load. The lead runs both north and south of the prospectors. Those on gold say that it will prove the most payable, as well as the most easily worked ground m the Kumara. The Customs receipts for the- last quarter of 1876 were £294,128 as against £303,608 during the coiTesponding quarter of 1875. The total for the year 1876 was £1,206,791 as against £1,234,967 for 1875. . The "N. Z. Times says that very few of the sections of land m Feilding and Halcombe, lately advertised by Messrs Bethune and Hunter, were sold at the auction. Several, however, had been withdrawn from sale previously to 2 o'clock, having been sold privately. It is very probable sales will be effected after the auction as on the last occasion similar lands were sold. The land is of excellent quality, and would readily sell on the deferred-payment system. jThe State of the Dunedin Hospital seems to be a strange one. The recently appointedCommittee -of management found that none of the wards were provtde&.with lavatories, baths, or closets. There was only one lavatory and one bath on the premises, the latter being situated near the kitchen. Beneath the flooring of one ward, and about a considerable portion of the buildings, mud and other offensive matter had accumulated to the depth of two or three inches, and the offensive odour of the closets had penetrated a considerable distance. The committee have determined to take the necessary steps for at once ■ effecting the requisite alterations. An eniment physician of Chicago says that he cures ninty-nine out of every one hundred cases of scarlet fever, by giving the patient warm lemonade with gum arabic dissolved m it. A cloth wrung put m hot water and laid on the stomach, should be removed as it becomes cool. Dr Wilkes, m his recent work on physiology, remai'ks that "It is estimated that the bones of every adult person require to be fed with lime enough to make a marble mantel-piece every eight months." It will be perceived, says Max Adeler, therefore, that m the course of about ten years each of us eats three or four mantel-pieces and a few sets of front door-steps. And m a long life I suppose it is fair to estimate that a healthy American could devour the capital of Washington, and perhaps two or three medium-seized quarries.